Megan Hess and Shirley Koch Wiki – Megan Hess and Shirley Koch Biography

On charges of fraud and illegal sale of body parts, a former Colorado funeral home owner has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July 2022 following a 2018 investigation that exposed her for selling body parts that were brought to the funeral home for her cremation. Megan Hess and Shirley Koch

Former employees revealed about the business that Hess and her mother Shirley Koch, 69, were left without the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home at the sentencing hearing. They reportedly mutilated the bodies and sold the pieces while returning the ashes to grieving families

“This is the most emotionally draining case I have ever experienced in court,” US District Judge Christine M. Arguello said during the sentencing hearing in Grand Junction, Colo., on Jan. 3. “It is troubling to the court that defendant Hess refuses to take any responsibility for her conduct.”

Koch apologized to the judge and accepted responsibility for her actions, but the judge imposed the maximum 20-year term allowed by law.

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Megan Hess and Shirley Koch Sentenced to prison for selling body parts from their funeral home

“Hess and Koch used their funeral home on occasion to steal bodies and body parts using forged and fraudulent donor forms,” prosecutor Tim Neff said in a court filing reported by Fox News. “Hess and Koch’s conduct caused immense emotional pain to the families and next of kin,” he read in the filing.

Hess would reportedly market the body parts to companies such as medical schools and other organizations. She offered free cremations in exchange for donating corpses to others, but she charged families up to $1,000 for cremations that never happened. She would then offer ashes made from a variety of corpses.

Federal law does not prohibit the sale of body parts, such as heads, arms, and spines for use in research or education, although the sale of organs is prohibited in the US.

At least 200 families were allegedly affected by the scam and were shocked to discover the true fate of their dead loved ones. “Our sweet mother, they dismembered her,” Erin Smith, one of the victims, told Fox News. “We don’t even have a name for such a heinous crime.”

The “macabre” crime was highlighted by the prosecution, who called it one of the most significant cases involving body parts in modern American history. Hess’s lawyer said Hess had been wrongly demonized as a “witch”, “monster” and “ghoul”. The judge ordered that Hess and Koch be sent to prison immediately at the end of the sentencing hearing.Read More…..